Friday, 16 February 2018

Red Salute to Kim Jong Il!

Kim Song Ji, Andy Brooks and Michael Chant

by
New Worker correspondent

Friends of the Korean revolution have been
commemorating the anniversary of the birth of dear leader Kim Jong Il
throughout the month at events in the capital and other parts of the country.
And last week comrades and friends gathered to mark the Day of the Shining Star
at the John Buckle Centre, the HQ of the Revolutionary Communist Party of
Britain (ML) in London.

Kim Jong Il
steered the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) through the difficult
times that followed the death of great leader Kim Il Sung in 1994. He devoted
his entire life to serving the Korean people in the cause of building a
human-centred society, a cause that is espoused by the democratic and
anti-imperialist forces the world over.

Following in Kim
Il Sung’s footsteps, Kim Jong Il led the Workers Party of Korea into the 21st
century to build a strong and prosperous socialist republic. Kim Jong Il was a
leading Marxist thinker who made an important contribution to modern communist
theory as well as an astute statesman who led the Korean people through thick
and thin to overcome natural disasters, the imperialist blockade and diplomatic
isolation.

Andy Brooks, the
chair of the Friends of Korea committee that organised the meeting, welcomed
everyone to the event to honour the memory of the Korean communist leader who
died at his post in December 2011. The speakers, who included Michael Chant
from the RCPB(ML) and Kim Song Gi from the London embassy of the DPRK, both
spoke about the continued advances of the people of Democratic Korea and their
contribution to international peace and progress. The focus was naturally the
courageous initiative by DPRK leader Kim Jong Un that led to the creation of a
united Korean sports team at the Winter Olympics currently taking place in
south Korea and an easing of tension across the armistice line which,
hopefully, will lead to a positive response to Democratic Korean peace
proposals by the south Korean authorities.

This was followed
by a lively question and answer session with the DPRK diplomat and a general
discussion that continued, as usual, over refreshments after the formal close
of the meeting.